1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a combination rotating dental cleaning brush and paste device wherein paste is stored in an accordion tube whereby axial pressure on the tube forces paste onto the brush. In particular, the present invention provides a combination rotating dental cleaning brush and paste device whereby paste is delivered to the brush at a rate as desired without additional switching or manipulation and without varying from the normal operation of the device.
2. Prior Art
Various rotating dental cleaning and prophylaxis polishing tools have been utilized in the past by dentists and dental technicians for removal of plaque and stains. In a typical rotating dental cleaning tool, a cylindrical portion is provided with a shaft passing therethrough. The shaft terminates in a drive shaft gear head which meshes with a driven gear member oriented at a ninety degree (90°) angle to the axis of rotation. The rotating tool has a right angle bend and is typically held by a dentist or a dental technician. A polishing cup is set at a right angle to the rotary hand piece. The dental tool is driven by powered equipment normally found in a dental office, such as AC motor power, DC motor power, pneumatic power or hydraulic power.
The standard practice is to periodically remove the rotating brush from the patient's mouth and dip it into a paste container containing dental paste. At one time, the tools were primarily made of metal and other materials and were sanitized after each use. More recently, the tools and brushes have been fabricated from inexpensive plastic and are simply disposed of after each use.
Because the repeated removal of the brush and dipping into the paste container requires a number of steps, various proposals have been made in the past to store the dental paste in the tool or housing of the tool itself. Some of these proposals involve spring or thumb activated mechanisms which require a finger of the dentist or dental technician to advance the mechanism in order to force the paste out to the brush. While these proposals eliminate the need for a separate container of dental paste, they are somewhat unwieldy.
Other proposals for delivery of the paste to the brush move the paste onto the brush by action of the rotary shaft. For example, see Lewis et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 3,389,468) wherein a plunger 62 is carried by a drive shaft 22 so that rotation of the drive shaft forces paste into a polishing cup.
Warden et al (U.S. Pat. No. 4,266,933) discloses a spiral wiper element which continually moves paste into a polishing cup.
Roth et al (U.S. Pat. No. 5,692,901) discloses an attachment with integral feed mechanism to expel paste into a polish cup. Rotation of the drive shaft propels paste via a propellant screw.
These proposals suffer in that the paste may not be delivered at the same rate as it is desired.
There remains a need for a combination rotating dental cleaning brush and paste device which is disposable and prepackaged for use with dental paste stored therein.
There remains a need for a combination rotating dental cleaning brush and paste device wherein dental paste may be stored in the device and delivered to the brush at a rate and at such times as are desired by the dentist or the dental technician.
There also remains a need for a combination rotating dental cleaning brush and paste device whereby dental paste may be delivered to the brush by simple axial movement of a compressible tube without further manipulating the tool or taking other actions.